German carrier receiving nano-SIMs ahead of expected iPhone launch

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Germany's Deutche Telekom has begun distributing nano-SIM cards to its partners ahead of the anticipated launch of Apple's next-generation iPhone.

A picture of the new nano-SIM card being shipped out in Germany was published on Tuesday by German-language site iFun.de (translation). Letters being sent out with the new nano-SIM cards indicate they are intended for "the latest generation of smartphones," but do not mention the iPhone specifically.

Apple's next-generation iPhone is rumored to feature a nano-SIM slot that's roughly 40 percent smaller than current micro-SIM cards. The new design should allow smartphone makers like Apple greater flexibility when designing handsets.

The nano-SIM was a point of controversy earlier this year, when Nokia objected to Apple's design. The Finnish company argued that the design violated a "no jamming" rule because its length was too similar to the width of current-generation micro-SIMs.

Apple responded in May by slightly adjusting the dimensions of card by adding a small amount of plastic around the edges of the electrical contacts, making the new nano-SIM just long enough so that it can't be forced lengthwise into an incompatible socket.

Nano-SIM


Apple's nano-SIM design was selected by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute in June as the fourth official form factor for the SIM card standard. In July it was said that European wireless operators were placing orders for nano-SIM cards in anticipation of Apple's next iPhone, but Tuesday's leak is the first evidence of an official carrier nano-SIM card in the wild.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member


    Shouldn't Apple send is iphone event invitations this week for a rumorer sept 12 launch?

  • Reply 2 of 12

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by herbapou View Post


    Shouldn't Apple send is iphone event invitations this week for a rumorer sept 12 launch?



     


    Of course.  


     


    Nano-SIM, the same micro-SIM with less plastic!

  • Reply 3 of 12


    I hope the micro-SIM can be trimmed down. Some are saying the nano-SIM isn't just smaller, but thinner. Looks like I'll have to get out the sandpaper. LOL

  • Reply 4 of 12
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ghostface147 View Post


     


    Of course.  


     


    Nano-SIM, the same micro-SIM with less plastic!



     


    Carefully designed so you are forced to re-up your contract for another three years, simply to get a hold of the new SIM (which does nothing different from your old SIM and improves nothing about the experience of using the phone for the customer).


     


    Improvement?  Yay?  :-/

  • Reply 5 of 12


    It's one piece of a complex engineering puzzle. And as such the Sim change, along with other alterations, allows them to re-design the phone for bigger screen, bigger battery, 4G chips, slimmer profile etc. I hardly think they had contract renewals on their mind when re-designing the sim. After all, it was Apple that wanted to do away with the sims all together.

  • Reply 6 of 12


    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post

    Carefully designed so you are forced to re-up your contract for another three years, simply to get a hold of the new SIM (which does nothing different from your old SIM and improves nothing about the experience of using the phone for the customer).


     


    Improvement?  Yay?  :-/



     


    Just cut your old SIM down. No big deal.


     


    You'd have a valid complaint if Nokia's NanoSIM design had been chosen. They designed it specifically with that in mind.

  • Reply 7 of 12
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Just cut your old SIM down. No big deal.


     


    You'd have a valid complaint if Nokia's NanoSIM design had been chosen. They designed it specifically with that in mind.



     


    Well I'm still using the SIM from my iPhone 3G, I "just cut it down" last time.  


     


    This time it's also thinner, so more cutting and and a few hours with an emory board at least.  


    Could easily be f*cked up too.  

  • Reply 8 of 12
    chiachia Posts: 713member


    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    Carefully designed so you are forced to re-up your contract for another three years, simply to get a hold of the new SIM



     



    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }


    That's unreasonable of a carrier to charge you the cost of a three year contract for a SIM card that's costs less than $10, especially when they're losing income whilst you're unable to use their network.


     


    It's pretty stupid behaviour by them at the time you're free to switch to another carrier.


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     


    #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

     
  • Reply 9 of 12


    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post

    This time it's also thinner, so more cutting and and a few hours with an emory board at least.


     


    Is it? Weird.


     


    Isn't it funny how the side that has for so long been against on-chip phone identification is now moving toward embedded SIMs? 


     


    Well, as long as it's easier (read: possible for a user) to do than CDMA provisioning, I'm for it.

  • Reply 10 of 12

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


     


    Carefully designed so you are forced to re-up your contract for another three years, simply to get a hold of the new SIM (which does nothing different from your old SIM and improves nothing about the experience of using the phone for the customer).


     


    Improvement?  Yay?  :-/



     


    Or just pick up an Xacto Knife and trim down your existing sim. Whichever works best for you.

  • Reply 11 of 12
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


     


    Carefully designed so you are forced to re-up your contract for another three years, simply to get a hold of the new SIM (which does nothing different from your old SIM and improves nothing about the experience of using the phone for the customer).


     


    Improvement?  Yay?  :-/



     


    Why would you have to do sign up for a new contract?


     


    Walk into a store and ask for a SIM swap, they can change the SIM on your account so your number is attached to a new SIM.


     


    There are lots of reasons for getting a new SIM, lost and stolen, changing phone, say from a Galaxy S III to a Galaxy Nexus, sending a phone for repair and changing SIM's to use a borrowed phone, faulty SIM's etc.


     


    It takes a couple of minutes.


     


    The three year contracts indicate Canada, maybe your phone companies aren't as advanced as here in Australia.


     


    The only concern I have with these is it's going to be hard to print the 20 digit SIM number on them so it is readable, microSIM's are bad enough.

  • Reply 12 of 12


    Just a minor correction: The name of the German phone provider is T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom (literally: German Telecom). T-Mobile, T-Online and Telekom are all results of privatisation of what used to be Germany's state-operated telecommunications agency, Deutsche Bundespost.

Sign In or Register to comment.